for the discovery which, by means of its secret agents,
it ''has just
made, and to which we hasten to give the extended circulation• of our columns. Many eyes and hands have been lifted up in wonder at the quiet and regularity of those streets that are Under the supervision of
the New Police ; and even the Standard, with the dread of Irishmen and Mr. PEEL before its eyes, has joined in the general tribute of ade miratioa ; but little did the multitude—little did the Standcitd, 2111.4 • e mu/lit—dream Of the cause. " The regular members of the thieves and burglars associations of the metropolis have got into the new police, for the purpose of carrying on the work of depredation with more facility." Among the old watchmen, there was now and then a little picking going on in a by way. Drunken men had their pockets turned out by accident, and trifles that had been left exposed by their owners had a trick of wandering nobody knew where,. but then they were such a sleepy, stupid, gin-tippling squad, that the" regular members of the thieves associations" would have felt themselves degraded in joining them. And in fact it was not necessary, for they were secure of their sufferance any way. But the new police are smart, active fellows—wear the undress of the Oxford Blues—can for the most part speak English—nayewe have heard, though we do not vouch for the fact, that some of them can write. Such men are not below the dig- nity of a regular thief. We have, however, one piece of news in store for those elderly ladies and gentlemen who may not be able to sleep o'- nights, for lack of the voice of the watchmen ; and we are happy to say that we have it exclusively. There are, to our certain knowledge, five-and-twenty penny-a-line men who have already joined the ranks of the police—in fact, it was one of these that gave the Herald its in- formation ; and from the decay of business, there are at present fifty members of the same body who are candidates for constables' staves. These ex-gentlemen of the press are to be so distributed that they can have access to the debates of the different stations ; and they have promised a faithful report of each and all of the meetings of the " re- gular members," for the benefit of the broad sheet. There is not one thief, of any respectable association in London, with whom they are not on terms of familiar intimacy. Mr. PEEL has been able, by this acci- dental consequence of his measure, to solve the old and hitherto puz- zling.problem of quis eustodiet eustodes ; for the penny-a-line men will see to the thieves, and the Herald to the penny-a-line men. Ap- parent security will thus be converted into real, and the slumbers of maiden gentlewomen of a certain age will be undisturbed by visions of burglars bound in blue and lettered, who, Heaven preserve us ! might, in so respectable seeming, not only plunder our houses, but perhaps carry away our wifes and daughters into the bargain.
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